Sir David Attenborough: 3D is better suited to plants than animals

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Meeting television royalty such as Sir David Attenborough can do funny things to a person. Profuse sweating. Trembling hands. Stuttering words.

Obviously, being the seasoned hacks that we are, we didn’t suffer anything other than a mere feeling of admiration. Obviously. Pocket-lint got to sit down with the great man after seeing a preview of his new series Kingdom of Plants 3D which debuts on Sky 3D on Saturday, 26 May.

So what does Sir David (pictured above with the show's executive producer Anthony Geffen) think of 3D technology and how did it affect the way they went about filming his latest venture?

“While the technical possibilities are huge, there’s also a number of restrictions,” conceded the wildlife expert. “It stems from the sheer size of the apparatus we needed to use.”

Kingdom of Plants 3D was shot over a year, predominantly in the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew, and Sir Attenborough conceded to Pocket-lint that plants were the perfect subject for getting the most from the team’s 3D cameras.

“Shooting in 3D means you need to get very close to the subject," says Attenborough. "You can’t really use 150 or even 100 mm lenses, so we had to rely on 75 mm."

“Some animals are very shy and if you get too close to them they will take flight. Filming plants [in 3D] led to problems themselves, but all practical problems and therefore all solvable.”

The Kingdom of Plants 3D is actually the third 3D venture for Attenborough, 86, who has previously looked at fossils with Flying Monsters 3D and then the penguin world with The Bachelor King 3D.

Not bad for someone who admits to being initially apprehensive about 3D. In fact despite describing his own mobile as being a “brick of a phone”, he owns an iPad and an iPod (given to him by Bono, no less) and has his own 3D TV.

“I can turn it on and sometimes I can even get a picture on there too.”

He may joke, but Attenborough is far from a Luddite and as gracious as he is, he’s clearly proud of his latest foray into the 3D world. So much so that he’s already working again with Atlantic Productions on a new series based on the Galapagos Islands.

What are your thoughts on 3D? Would you rather see plant or animal footage? Let us know in the comments below...